Hi Guys,
I was just wondering if anyone has a good recommendation for an external USB C microphone that works well in a helmet, I have tried a couple and the sound quality is rubbish, unable to understand a thing when riding, I have dropped the mic gain all the way down to -12 and now unable to hear the bike at all but when I speak its still garbled. I don't know if it is the microphones used or there is an issue with the camera itself. DJI advised me to send it to service repairer to see if anything wrong, but I am off on an interstate ride next week, and really would like footage of the ride, but atm, totally unusable, I am thinking of going back to my GOPro.
Please help as other than this sound issue, I love the camera

Hello, there. Sorry for the inconvenience. May we know did you switched on the  Wind Noise Reduction on Osmo Action 4?
You can find it by this path: Product menu: Swipe left on the screen home page - Microphone settings - Wind Noise Reduction.
Kindly understand that the high-speed airflow during driving blows the microphone directly, exceeding the threshold of the noise reduction algorithm, so the wind noise cannot be completely reduced.
You can try below two methods below to improve the issue:
1.     Connect to an external microphone and use the microphone windscreen.
2.     Install a windshield to reduce the impact of the winds on the microphone physically.

DJI Wanda Posted at 10-20 18:11
Hello, there. Sorry for the inconvenience. May we know did you switched on the  Wind Noise Reduction on Osmo Action 4?
You can find it by this path: Product menu: Swipe left on the screen home page - Microphone settings - Wind Noise Reduction.
Kindly understand that the high-speed airflow during driving blows the microphone directly, exceeding the threshold of the noise reduction algorithm, so the wind noise cannot be completely reduced.

Hi Wanda,
Thank you for your reply, yes I have tried with wind noise reduction both on and off, also have a windsock on the mic which is located in my helmet behind my chin guard, so no wind noise should be there anyway.  I just can't get a mic to work in my helmet, it is so frustrating

schlod1234 Posted at 10-20 18:32
Hi Wanda,
Thank you for your reply, yes I have tried with wind noise reduction both on and off, also have a windsock on the mic which is located in my helmet behind my chin guard, so no wind noise should be there anyway.  I just can't get a mic to work in my helmet, it is so frustrating

I just can't get a mic to work in my helmet
Could you please tell us more details about the issue?
As we have explained, wind noise can not be completely reduced during high-speed driving.

can you show a photo exactly where the mic is at?  simply youtube search, pick the vids  for your needs, something DJI did not point out

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=action+4+motorcycle+helmet+set+up

I recommend putting the lav-mic close to your mouth and with a deadcat on or atleast a foam cover.

What brand mic do you have?

Fishycomics Posted at 10-21 03:23
can you show a photo exactly where the mic is at?  simply youtube search, pick the vids  for your needs, something DJI did not point out

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=action+4+motorcycle+helmet+set+up

Thanks mate, I had a look at that vid, his comms are crystal clear, so I have bit the bullet and purchased the adaptor and Giant Squid mic, so lets have a try once they arrive, if the issue still persists, I will be sending the Action 4 back and see if the issue is with the camera, I have already spent $100's on trying to get this damn thing to work

johansenfoto Posted at 10-21 11:04
I recommend putting the lav-mic close to your mouth and with a deadcat on or atleast a foam cover.

What brand mic do you have?

Thanks for the response, My mic is placed right next to my mouth inside helmet protected by both deadcat and chin guard on helmet, my inbuilt mic on helmet (and no, cannot use that one for the action 4) picks up no wind noise whatsoever, the brand I have is Movo, which was recommended to my by a Motorcycle Vlogger, but does not work, even with mic gain at -12 it just distorts so much it is unintelligable

schlod1234 Posted at 10-21 14:35
Thanks for the response, My mic is placed right next to my mouth inside helmet protected by both deadcat and chin guard on helmet, my inbuilt mic on helmet (and no, cannot use that one for the action 4) picks up no wind noise whatsoever, the brand I have is Movo, which was recommended to my by a Motorcycle Vlogger, but does not work, even with mic gain at -12 it just distorts so much it is unintelligable

Can you post a video so we can listen to the sound?
You can always go down to -20db, for me -10db with BOYA works great. But I drive atv and not as fast as you.

johansenfoto Posted at 10-21 15:25
Can you post a video so we can listen to the sound?
You can always go down to -20db, for me -10db with BOYA works great. But I drive atv and not as fast as you.

Hi
Have attached link to my Google Drive. As you would be aware, files are huge
Audio is quite soft, not sure why, but if you turn up your volume should hear it fine
thanks for the assist
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o_FTAf4TKPDnuANLee6NOJLV1YHjlFax/view?usp=share_link
regards
Mike

schlod1234 Posted at 10-21 17:02
Hi
Have attached link to my Google Drive. As you would be aware, files are huge
Audio is quite soft, not sure why, but if you turn up your volume should hear it fine

Sound were really low in general on that video, but I heard the distortion.
Is the mic usb-c mic or do you use an adapter?

I use Boya BY-K4 adapter with Boya lav-mic most of the time and never experienced this with OA4.

johansenfoto Posted at 10-22 01:10
Sound were really low in general on that video, but I heard the distortion.
Is the mic usb-c mic or do you use an adapter?

The mic is a USB C microphone, I have ordered the Boya adaptor and Giant Squid mic to see if that fixes the issue. I also thought it might be that I was running the mic through a splitter to enable me to have 2 mics in helmet, one for speech and one for imput from speaker in helmet to capture inter comms from other riders in my group, so tried with just the single mic directly connected to the Action 4 via USB C. still same distortion unfortunately

so what does your group use, there must  be one that has a awesome set up? that has no distortion. wind kills it all.   I only pointed to vids nothing more

Fishycomics Posted at 10-22 03:33
so what does your group use, there must  be one that has a awesome set up? that has no distortion. wind kills it all.   I only pointed to vids nothing more

They dont have  cameras, just intercoms

Fishycomics Posted at 10-22 03:33
so what does your group use, there must  be one that has a awesome set up? that has no distortion. wind kills it all.   I only pointed to vids nothing more

They dont have  cameras, just intercoms

schlod1234 Posted at 10-22 03:35
They dont have  cameras, just intercoms

so you are the only one that films got it,

Fishycomics Posted at 10-22 08:01
so you are the only one that films got it,

Yes so far, my stepson wants to get a camera, but is hesitant, due to issues i am having

Go watch this and others videos from Andreas, there you will find best solution for vlogging.

He is also here on the forum.

Is it possible to adjust mic gain on a wired usb c lavalier mic? I know it’s possible on the wireless mic but I can’t find a setting on the OA4?

The most simple setup is buying the Samsung EO-IC100 headphones and chopping the speakers off. Whack some felt or sponge around it. Done. Worked OK on the OA3, but I expect it to work fine on the OA4 because it handles audio much nicer.

Alternatively if you like using a TRS lavalier mic, use the Boya BY-K4 adapter. That's what I'm using at the moment because I need stereo recording.

Thank you, I think I will give that a go, I sent my OA4 back and they say they did not find anything wrong with it but will send me a new one, so hopefully it is better.

schlod1234 Posted at 11-16 02:43
Thank you, I think I will give that a go, I sent my OA4 back and they say they did not find anything wrong with it but will send me a new one, so hopefully it is better.

Quick update, I received the new Action 4 and plugged my mic into it and went for a ride to test, amazing, works wonderfully, so proves there was an issue with the old USB C connection / mic in the old Action 4.
Am so happy atm.
Thanks for your help and advice guys, I really appreciate all your help and comments

Mike